To say that we’ve seen substantial increases in need, uptake and distribution over the last quarter would be an understatement. Instead of simply telling you about these changes, we want to let the numbers speak for themselves. Here is a look back at what YOUR support made happen in our last quarter.
All numbers represent totals for April-June 2023:
In June, there were 266,819 client visits to Daily Bread member food banks. In total, that number would fill the seats in the Rogers Centre over five times. Including April and May, our total number of client visits during this last quarter was at 764,698, compared to last year’s 467,120.
As usual, our operations team was hard at work ensuring that pallets of food were palletized and loaded up in our trucks to be delivered to our network.
In total, 7,331,683 lbs. of food were distributed across the city. The food that is distributed is a combination of food that has been purchased by Daily Bread, along with donated items. Each Daily Bread truck can carry approximately 15,000 lbs., which means that is just over 489 trucks’ worth of food.
Advocacy in Action:
This last quarter, we had the opportunity to speak on several policy conversations around food insecurity. Daily Bread CEO, Neil Hetherington, testified before the Senate standing committee about the importance of the Canada Disability Benefit Act, which has now been passed as a law. Additionally, Neil testified to the House of Commons Finance Committee on the current food bank client numbers and potential impact of the Grocery Rebate.
In May, Daily Bread also held the first Mayoral Candidate Debate of the campaign race, providing an opportunity for Torontonians to hear directly from the candidates on the issues that mattered most as they prepared to cast their vote.
New Program:
To help support the need in the community, our Programs and Services department helped to facilitate the start of a new food bank program, Empringham/TAIBU Food Bank, located in the Empringham community of East Malvern. This program, dedicated for residents of the community, is led by the UBUNTU Elders Council, with the support of TAIBU Community Health Centre. TAIBU is a multiservice agency based in Scarborough that has been supporting Black communities in the GTA by providing a variety of health promotion programs delivered in a culturally affirming environment.
Thanks to TAIBU’s programming for seniors through the UBUNTU Village Project, and a strong connection to Toronto Community Housing’s violence prevention staff, Daily Bread was able to assist the Elders Council to coordinate the new food bank in the Toronto Community Housing complex, increasing food access to this underserved community. This collaboration was “accepted with open arms,” shares Kesh Kumar, the Chair of the UBUNTU Elders Council. “After visiting the Daily Bread Food Bank warehouse and witnessing the grand scale in which the organization is run, the group was extremely impressed particularly with the passionate leadership and fervent commitment of the Daily Bread staff. We are delighted to start this project.”
From the Daily Bread kitchen:
The Daily Bread kitchen team has also worked hard to support the uptake that we’ve seen over the last quarter. They work to prepare thousands of servings of soups and casseroles weekly, to be distributed to meal programs across the city. Our incredible team made 45,686 nutritious meals this past quarter!
Thank you to our generous donors, volunteers and member agencies for standing with us in the fight to end hunger. Although we have seen an increase, we remain hopeful because of the support of people like you. We are so grateful for your involvement and support in meeting the needs of our city.
If you are interested in supporting Daily Bread Food Bank through a financial donation, please click here.
